5
Jul
2010
Kulvinder Johal “Mundeh Panjabi” Press Release
Having broken records with the smash hit single ‘Johal Boliyan’; Vip Records are proud to present the debut album by folk vocalist Kulvinder Singh Johal titled ‘Mundeh Panjabi’.
The 10 track album has been produced by Kaos Productions & also features three singles by Tru Skool; the producer behind ‘Johal Boliyan’ which spent an incredible seven weeks at the top of the BBC Asian Network digital download chart.
With ‘Johal Boliyan’ already a firm fixture for dance floors across the UK, ‘Mundeh Panjabi’ promises to deliver further anthems, only adding to the already long list of hit songs by Kulvinder Singh Johal.
The single ‘Sun Baliyeh’ was given its exclusive first play on the distinguished Nihal show on BBC Radio 1, with ‘Mundeh Panjabi’ being premiered by Bobby Friction on the BBC Asian Network.
The album will be supported by another high quality video medley for the tracks ‘Mundeh Panjabi’ and ‘Sun Baliyeh’ which will be airing shortly.
With Johal Boliyan still riding high in the charts, ‘Mundeh Punjabi’ is set to become the essential sound track for the summer.
The 10 track album is out in all Asian music shops and iTunes on the 8th of July 2010.
Johal Boliyan
Mundeh Panjabi
Gubindhi
Kehjaa Kehjaa
Puth Sardaran Deh
Sun Baliyeh
10
May
2010
Kulvinder Johal – “Johal Boliyan” Video
Now this is the business!
There isn’t much I can say to convince you to buy this song, other than to point you in the direction of the video.
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Kulvinder Johal, who has been around since the early 80′s, is set for a monster solo album with the aide of Tru-Skool on production.
Granted it’s a remake of a Mohammed Sadiq and Ranjit Kaur track, I think this updated track is fresh for the times. Tru-Skool shows off his flair (and his best PMC impression to date) with the use of some solid sampling of James Brown.
The song debuted at number 1 on the Official Asian Download Chart. (That’s now 2 Bhangra tracks at number 1 in consecutive weeks (PBN last week))
This song is on continuous repeat for me.
Do yourself a favour and get the song from iTunes
14
Apr
2010
31
Dec
2009
The Best Songs of 2009
Capping the series of year end posts, let’s deal with the best songs of 2009.
There were a lot of albums released this year, and every album released, should have at least one “it” song. This list I have compiled is not based on sales, or anyone else chatting in my ear. The only thing in my ear was the music itself. People’s taste in music is subjective – but you guys should take me as an authority on this subject anyways (joke) – So the way I chose these songs, is based on what got the most airplay in my mp3 player.
Number 10 – PBN featuring Miss Pooja “Aashiq”
If there is one thing that the UK Bhangra industry in 2009 may be known for, it’s the rise in fame of Miss Pooja. Seems like everyone loves her. Everyone except me. But she still made the list – with PBN’s production skills of course – due to the fact this one song had a huge effect on the dance floors across the world.
Number 9 – Northern Lights featuring Ashok Gill “Nakreh”
This was an awesome debut song, and video for Northern Lights. I’ve talked enough about how good this album is, so enjoy the video.
Number 8 – Twin Beats featuring Jaswinder Daghamia “Twins Tappe”
I still can’t get enough of this track, the dhol intro is just too sick.
Number 7 – Jus Ritz featuring Raj Kaul and RKZ “Nehio Nibhani”
You may be surprised with this selection, but like I said in the intro, this track got crazy airplay from me. I was impressed with Ritz’ first track “Tere Na Te Glassy,” but when this track came out, it was like “whoa!” RKZ and Raj Kaul smashed it, and the video is a positive piece of work as well.
Number 6 – DJ Dips featuring Ashok Gill “Ek Gera”
Look at that, the vocals of Ashok Gill make the list twice. This track by DJ Dips did not get the video treatment. Quite surprising since it’s the best song on the album.
Number 5 – JK “Pat Liyah”
JK and Tru-Skool have made a killer combination, and although we’re still waiting on a full album release, this song held me over just well. I was mad at whoever made the decision to slowly release just singles after singles, but now I’ve changed my mind. These days, variety is the spice of life, and listening to one artist for ten songs straight get’s a little boring.
Number 4 – Dark MC featuring Jaswinder Daghamia “Chori Chori Takna”
This track is a monster, Dark MC gave us some great tracks a few years ago on “It’s Getting Dark in Here,” and although this album I feel, was a letdown, the one track you would find yourself continuously rocking out to is “Chori Chori Takna” with vocals provided by Jaswinder Daghamia. If you haven’t heard it, by all means go and search for it. I can’t post the video due to the lovely games MovieBox like to play.
Number 3 – Taj-E featuring Bee2 “B.I.G.”
In my opinion this is the biggest UK Bhangra dance floor track. Not many people recognise it as much as “Aashiq” on these ends still, but trust me when I say, I listened to this song almost as much as….
Number 2 – Swami “Sugarless”
Since the inception of Bhangraw.com, I’ve raved on and on about Swami. So why stop now? Even when I talk to people about Swami, they look at me as if I’m preaching about someone (I must admit, at times it sounds like I am.) This track continued in the footsteps of where they left off with the tracks on “Equalise” except, this was 100% all Swami right down to the lyrics.
Number 1 – Imran Khan “Amplifier”
I hate to admit it, but I ended up listening to this track more than anything towards the latter part of this year. Yikes! Any get together for any type of party, and it was this track that brought the masses together in a drunken stupor, trying to act out all the lyrics “On kara A/C!!!” Of course, if it wasn’t for the production of Eren E (who I think Imran Khan should take a bullet for if that should ever happen) on this track, it wouldn’t be as massive as it turned out to be. With the solid production, came that darn infectiously memorisable chorus “Nai woofer heh tu meri…meri, meh tera amplifier…FIRE!” And if that isn’t proof enough, the video has over 2.6 million views!
Go ahead, judge, criticise, mock. But these ten songs will go down for me as the biggest of 2009.
30
Sep
2009
JK “Pat Liyah” Download Links
Ladies and Gents, in case you don’t know JK’s “Pat Liyah” is one of the biggest tunes this year, and it’s finally been put up to legally download.
If you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks and you don’t know what I’m chatting about, hit up the video here.
You can purchase the track on the VIP Digital Downloads page or on iTunes for 99 cents.
(For those people in North America, make sure you hit the $ sign in the top right corner on the VIP Downloads Page.)
12
Sep
2009
JK “Pat Liyah” Video
Honestly, I don’t know what to say about this dude.
What impresses me the most about this guy, is that he’s in his early twenties, born and raised in the UK, and the man’s pronunciation is impeccable. You want to hear “teht” Punjabi? He’s got it. He can teach us all a thing or two.
Could I say JK will save Bhangra? I bloody hope so.
Should the man release an album ASAP? Hell bloody yeah. These singles have got me fired up!
First “Gabru Panjab Da,” then “Jhooteh Laareh,” and now “Pat Liyah.”
The single hasn’t gone on sale yet, but keep your eyes on this space to get your copy. I know I will.
Tru-Skool has done an amazing job with his work on the music. You may recognize the incredible and clever use of The Pharcyde sample of “Passin’ Me By.” I really don’t know what else to say at this point except, check out the video!
Even the video is made well enough to incorporate the sounds of the des mixed with a street element.
Seriously, release the album already!
1
Feb
2009
Old School Sunday – Specialist and Tru-Skool “Word is Born Medley” Video
Continuing with the themes of Tru-Skool and Kulvinder Singh Johal posts this past week, this week’s Old School Sunday rewinds it back to late 2004, where we first heard the music created by the Specialist and Tru-Skool collaboration.
The “Word is Born Medley” contains the songs “Sanehvaal Chounk” with vocals provided by Kaka Bhainivaala, as well as the Kuldip Manak cover track “Saibaa Dha Khath,” with vocals provided by Kulvinder Singh Johal.
It’s a low budget video, but you get a glimpse into how serious the duos musical prowess is in the studio. That’s them laying down the instrumentation for the album themselves.
29
Jan
2009
Tru-Skool and Kaos Productions “In Tha House”
During my Grade 9 year in High School, there was one cassette I played more than others. It was “Death Jamm.” Those carefully mixed Safri tunes still get air time in my household to this day. They were more than just a popular Hip Hop song mixed with a Panjabi song.
I used to knock Canadian attempts that tried to mimic the vibe, by slapping together the latest Hip Hop beat with a Panjabi track, and on that front I am thankful the genre moved on.
Tru-Skool & Kaos Productions are releasing an album on February 9th that’s a throwback to that time period. Titled “In Tha House,” the album is going to be classic Panjabi Folk tunes mixed with studio produced Hip Hop beats.
The nine track album will feature vocals from Gurdas Maan, Mohammed Siddiq, Surinder Shinda, Kuldip Manak, A.S. Kang and others.
I usually don’t bother pasting the press release in my posts, because they’re usually filled with fluff by the label heads saying their album is going to be the greatest. But Tru-Skool has kept it real, so I’ll share his sentiments with you.
Yo people! I Just wanna take this minute to reminisce about the old Desi remixes – Panjabi Folk mixed with underground Hip Hop from the early to mid 90′s.
Listening to, and producing Hip Hop music as well as loving Panjabi Folk and UK Bhangra, this shortlived genre was one of the most favourite and memorable periods in Bhangra, both as a fan, and as a producer. With this in mind, fusing Hip Hop with Bhangra/Panjabi Folk music, for me, was inevitable. However before I got my foot in there, artists such as ‘Death Jamm Productions’ and ‘Panjabi MC’ had just beat me to it with their debut releases back in 1993.
Panjabi MC introduced the Folk remixes back in 1995 with his albums ’100% Proof’ and ‘Magic Desi’. I felt this was the peak of UK Bhangra until the mid 90′s, when both Bhangra and U.S Hip Hop had started to dilute its sound and presence.
During that time, I felt that there were two types of Bhangra. The first being, the type that the bands and producers like Shinda and Amarjit Sidhu etc were creating, and the second being the type of people like Bally Sagoo, PMC, Death Jamm etc were creating. Although being a huge fan of both styles, the music in this particular album represents the latter.
Although remixing is regarded a thing of the past and often associated with negativity, this particular project has been reproduced with fresh production in terms of Hip Hop beats n elements and is aimed at those who appreciate this type of music, although we understand this audience may have diminished over the past decade.
We hope there is still an audience for this kind of music who will enjoy listening to this album.
Tru Skool & Kaos Productions.
Gurdas Maan – Jaag Dhe Rehnah
Surinder Shinda – Shinda Track
Mohammed Siddiq – Ghorh Jeoneh Maurh Dhi
In my head I hear Missy Elliott screaming “Reeeeeeeemix.” I’m digging the promos. It’s good for the Spring Chickens to hear some old school tracks in a way that they will be able to appreciate them. They definitely got the Tru-Skool feel to them, and the vocal engineering is fantastic.
What do you think? Is this throwback going to be a keeper? or is it a futile attempt to rehash a fad?
2
Jan
2009
JK “Gabru Panjab Dha” Video
Introducing JK. Hailing from Derby, UK, this young fella has been under the tutelage of Tru-Skool for vocal training, as well as playing the harmonium.
With production provided by Tru-Skool on the track, JK’s debut is solid.
His press pack says he is influenced by the likes of Jazzy B, Meshi, Manak, Safri among others, and you cannot deny the fact that even in the video, he’s got a Jazzy B kinda thing going on.
The way the video starts is excellent, with a cameo by Tru-Skool and a live look at JK’s vocal range. Props to the man for keeping it on the streets and out of the clubs.
So far, only the single has been released, no word on a full album. Hit up VIP Records for more info.
Hopefully, Tru-Skool will handle the majority of the production. JK to look out for in ’09?
Hit up the comments with what you think of this debut.
15
Oct
2008
Panjabi MC’s Jeona Mohr Inspiration
What would we do without Panjabi MC?
First off, I cannot stop listening to “Jeona Mohr.” Like I said previously, PMC’s rap in the track is aimed at the Kray Twinz and at Specialist and Tru Skool. I still don’t know why he has beef with Tru Skool, but here’s the rundown from what I could find out about the story behind “Mundian To Bach Ke.”
Panjabi MC rolled with Specialist and Tru Skool and the Kray Twinz back in the day.
Panjabi MC’s original Mundian To Bach Ke did not sound like the version we are all accustomed to, but since he was tight with the Kray Twinz, he gave them the record to mix at clubs. The Kray Twinz took it upon themselves to mix the original Mundian To Bach Ke with the Busta Rhymes song “Fire it Up” aka the Knight Rider beat. PMC heard the mix and released the song with the new beat. The friction started when the Kray Twinz didn’t get any recognition for what they did to the track.
Back to Jeona Mohr.
PMC smashed it. He dissed the crews, while at the same time involving lyrics such as “Apa ki larkeh lena?” “What do we get with fighting?”
I had previously posted the track from the Friction show, here is a clean version to listen to.
Also, I found the original movie the song is from. Forward to the 1:40 mark. After listening to the video, it seems like PMC’s production for the track was minimalistic, yet, that makes the track that much more better.
True to form, “Indian Timing” has been delayed to be released on November 1st.
